Harden was missing wide open 3s. WB was missing open pullups. The Thunder offense is amazing. The Heat ofense is gonna have to get to that level .
Hardn was 1-2 on 3s. How the hell is that missing wide open 3s? WB shot 43% all playoffs. He shot 42%. But he doubled his average assists. And his pullups are ALWAYS wide open. Teams give him that shot. He stil averages 43% shooting. Thunder's offense IS amazing. But it's one game. That's the beauty of the playoffs. The Heat dominated the first half. OKC dominated even more in the 2nd half.
In Toronto, Bosh started most possessions in post. He didn't have an elite PG and they wouldn't even make playoff if he's just a 18ft jump shooter. He didn't bang in post but he can make a quick drive on either side, or take a turnaround jumper, much like Aldridge does in Portland. And that LeBron couldn't make a shot in post is point blank proof he doesn't have the skills to excel in it. All post-up players face help defense, it's not like Collins doubled him at all cost. Durant doesn't even dribble the ball much. He runs through picks, gets the ball and a little opening and he makes a shot. No dribbling in 3pts line for 18 seconds and call for a pick. LeBron is seriously lacking in those skills. And only a blind fanboy can't see it.
Chuck says LerBon James don't have a lot of help. He’s Michael Jackson playing with a bunch of Tito Jackson’s. If they don't give him any help, they're in trouble. . . . . [Wade's] Knee only bothers him when he plays poorly. When he plays great, he's great. I always laugh when I hear that. ... When he has a bad game, it's his knee. When he has a good game, he's a champion. Also said he's Sixer & Sun at heart.
Collins had a good game last night but Ibaka can't play better defense than him? Harden was in foul trouble but was Fisher really a better defensive player? I don't think you can convince yourself Ibaka/Harden can't play more minutes. Thunders should reduce the minutes of Perkins, he's just not quick enough and he's the reason Battier went off in first half. Westbrook, Harden, Sefo, Durant, Ibaka is their best 1-5 against Heat and they don't miss offense/defense on either side of floor. 1-4 in this lineup can switch in P&R at will and Heat cannot exploit mismatch.
LeBron isn't infallible as a player. However, why would you want to take the ball out of the hands of the most dangerous triple threat option in basketball? Wade and Bosh received plenty of 1-on-1 opportunities and open shots last night but Bosh missed his looks and Wade couldn't beat his man off the dribble. Wade has never been a great shooter so if he isn't able to get in the paint and score/draw fouls, he's hurting the team. As for Bosh in the post, he's far more comfortable as a face up shooter than a back to the basket player. Aldridge is a good comparison, and he's the same way. The bottom line is LeBron brought it in game 1 but other than Battier and Chalmers stepping up, he had no help. Wade had numerous one on one clearouts where he settled for long jumpers. Bosh hung around the free throw line/perimeter and missed his open looks. The only nitpicking of LeBron would be that he missed a few free throws, and he didn't stick to Durant or Westbrook like glue all game.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5MSYVKtE1zg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> From this highlight clip alone, you already see 4-5 WIDE OPEN shots for Durant. That's simply inexcusable. The defense was worse than that from what I saw from the end of the 3rd and on.
Most wide opens are in transition or semi-transition. Not much you can do about it. OKC have young legs, deeper rotation, height advantage, speed 1-4. Miami is going to lose fastbreak game most of nights.
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Outside of the 3 in transition, the wide open looks were in the halfcourt. You play that kind of defense, you should lose the game, a few of them were the players trying to steal the ball.
Dwayne Wade: "Not a lot of exciting things going on out here." (OKC) Wade may have just inadvertently pissed off everyone in Oklahoma. I would certainly take it personally if he said that about my city. As if they didn't hate him already.... The guy needs to learn to keep his mouth shut already. http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/heat...t-a-lot-of-exciting-things-going-on-out-here/
A lot of things have been going right for OKC all playoffs. They are more of a slashing/jump shooting team. The way things are going, I doubt they slow down. Unlike the Heat, the OKC Thunder big 3 actually mesh better. Durant gets his shots of pick and rolls and off ball, while Westbrook handles the ball and has the midrange/slashing down pat. They are unguardable.
Wade is right. Oklahoma City used to be part of my sales territory about 15 years ago. I hated going there because it was sooooo boring. Zzzzzzzzzz!
